A Complicated Thing Called Love
by euforie
Summary: AU. Gaara is feared and worshipped as God and has taken a sudden interest in one of his slaves. She, however, wants nothing to do with the monster that destroyed her village. WARNING: FUTURE LEMONS & VIOLENCE
1. Prologue

**This is my first fanfic and English is not my native language, therefore please don't be too harsh if you review ;) For the rest I hope you enjoy it!**

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**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS!**

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_Prologue_

"All God does, is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring." That these words had to come back to her at such a moment and in this context… She closed her eyes for a long second and an even more sickening feeling started to arise in the pit of her stomach.

From the moment she comprehended what exactly was expected from her, a sense of unfeeling had descended over her body, while at the same time she still hadn't found a way to make all the muscles in her body stop trembling.

Even now, while walking quietly behind the guard through the grand, marble hallways of the palace, all she could register was her contradictory state of mind; on one side complete numbness, and on the other side full fledged panic. She knew there was no way to avoid the coming event, no way of escape. It was that realization that created a sickening fear which made her unable to rationally think, which made her want to cry about the upcoming pain and run as far and fast as she could to hide somewhere like a child.

She wouldn't come far if she did chose to run, she knew this very well and hadn't needed the concealed threat that was made to her by the woman who had dressed her.

_Endure it_.

These were the only words she could tell herself which kept the fear from taking control and rule her actions. _Just endure it_. Keep an obedient demeanor, force your mind to be somewhere else and forget about it. _Survive_. He wouldn't want her more than just this once, she was nothing! She couldn't even begin to understand what it was that made him want her even once.

Why me? She wondered in despair, why does it have to be me?

When they had come for her at the slave quarters she had been shocked to her core, one of her worst fears had come true. When they had pushed her into one of the dressing rooms of the royal concubines, she had almost laughed out of sheer relieve; there had been some mistake. She tried to tell them this, not only for her own good, but also to prevent they would be punished for their error. With condescending posture she was told that no faults had been made and, here the tone changed to slight wonder, that His Majesty had commanded her presence personally.

This was something she wouldn't have expected to happen in a million lifetimes. She had to undress, was critically looked over while listening to a list of everything that was wrong with her body, she was bathed and finally dressed in something that would've even made her socks blush if it wasn't for the tragedy of her situation.

Why me? Whether it was Lord Yashamaru or Lord Gaara who requested her, she couldn't remember a single moment in her life when one of the two could have notice her. They shouldn't have noticed her! She was just a low servant, no, she was just a slave, a spoil of war. Lord Yashamaru and Lord Gaara were the most powerful Lords of Sunagakure, they were Immortals and she was a mere human slave girl. She closed her eyes and pushed back tears of desperation, was she now a sex slave? As a spoil of war everything had been taken from her; her village, her believes, her fiancé… even her body wasn't her own anymore, she had prayed it wouldn't come this far.

Paralyzing fear slowly started to rise again. _Just endure it._

Her guard reached one of the wings the Royal Family lived in, she hadn't been here before and therefore couldn't tell who's chambers she was about to enter. After getting clearance of the four guards guarding the doors, her own guard motioned her to follow him. She knew the shaking of her knees were visible for everyone who watched her, but if she had been herself, she would have noticed that the guards at the door weren't looking at her knees.

'This one looks a little nervous Goro,' one of the guards remarked softly, his words caused the other guards to chuckle. Too nervous and too focused on her own predicament she didn't hear what the guard said when she passed him. She quickly glanced at them, but refocused her eyes on the floor when she saw they were half breeds. She kept walking, hoping they wouldn't call her back and discipline her for not bowing as usual was expected of her. Of course they were half breeds, she chided herself, the personal rooms of the Royal Family wouldn't be protected by simple humans.

Her guard only turned his head slightly to check if she was still following, but ignored the comment. He obviously wanted to deliver her and move on to his next orders. They walked through another hallway and she looked to her side to the golden framed paintings which reached the ceiling. The wealth and power of the Royal Family showed everywhere in the palace, but here, in the wing of one of the Royal Family members himself, the decoration also had something ancient.

She knew they were very old, they ruled these lands now for hundreds of years, and there was a reason why their race were called the Immortals. Or as they called themselves: Gods.

Her guard stopped at a big door with golden relief and approached the chamber servant. They softly exchanged some words and her guard signaled her to come a little closer. She swallowed nervously, took a few steps and bowed for the servant. As a chamber servant of the Royal Family he held a high and powerful position in the peck order of servants. She kept her eyes low while he took in her appearance. He must have seen no faults or imperfections since he turned around and pulled a cord. She heard a soft jingle and after a few seconds the servant entered.

She could feel she would start to hyperventilate soon en tried not to panic. It all went to fast, she wasn't ready for this. Her shaking was now also visible at her hands. Her guard glanced at her, but showed no notion of sympathy or caring. Too soon the servant was back and motioned for her to follow him and come in. Her heart started to beat erratically while she tried to stop, or at least slow down, time with her mind. This isn't happening, this can't be happening.

As in a dream she walked over the soft carpet, knelt and rested her forehead on the floor. In her peripheral sight she saw the servant leave and all she could do was lie there and wait. _Endure it. Go somewhere else in your mind._

It was silent for several moments in which she tried to remain a calm, neutral composure, but couldn't stop the trembling of her body. If she did anything that would displease the Lord, she would be lucky if the punishment was a quick death. She heard the soft rustle of clothing coming a bit farther away from her and then it was silent again. Her heart was pounding so hard, she was surprised it was still functioning properly.

'Rise.'

Although it was spoken with a gentle tone, the order in it was clear. She rose her head until she was sitting on her feet, but kept sure to keep her eyes on the floor in front of her all the time. She couldn't see the person who spoke, but couldn't help notice that the room was very beautiful and luxuriously furnished.

It remained silent and nerves started to take over as she started to consider to take a run for the door. That would be suicide of course, if it wouldn't be one of the guards, the Lord himself would outrun her in a blink of an eye. _Go someplace else, think about home_. This caused a small pang of pain, but she immediately saw the bright river just outside her village. She remembered how the area smelled fresh, like grass and how the sun would-

'Come closer.'

The order snapped her back and a paralyzing fear made it unable for her to move for just a second. Then she slowly rose to her feet and took some timid steps in the direction the order had come from. She wished she didn't shake that much, it made her weakness so obvious.

'Closer.'

She lifted her focus just enough of the floor to locate the source of the sound without actually looking at him and slowly walked to him while trying to suppress the beginning of her hyperventilation attack. She stopped walking a few meters away and waited.

And waited a little longer. She looked at his feet and could feel his gaze burning on her. She was terrified and felt the kind of weakness in her body one feels when you haven't eaten all day. Her head started to feel light and she wished she could sit down for a moment to catch her breath.

'Are you afraid of me?' His voice was low and sounded somehow gentle.

It took her several tries before she could open her mouth, which was suddenly plagued by extreme dryness. 'Your Highness…' her voice came out as a whisper, but she was relieved it didn't quiver. Yet.

'I-In the vi-village I was raised, it was r-rejected when an unmarried w-woman…' She found she couldn't speak anymore and felt her cheeks slowly turn crimson. If this would take any more time, she knew she would pass out. Her lightheadedness had spread throughout her entire body and somehow it was as if it was pointing at the man before her.

'Look at me.'

She let her eyes slowly travel up his body until she reached his chest. He wore a simple, but beautiful dark kimono which hung open and so revealed a sun browned and muscled chest. She stopped there, since she had no permission to look him in the eyes. After a couple of seconds it seemed as if that same lightness, which started to feel a bit like some form of terrifying attraction between them, forced her to look at his face.

His beautiful face she realize with surprise. An angelic face with locks of hair with the color of dark blood framing it and the most bright green eyes she has ever seen in her life. Bright, cold green eyes which caused such a shock through her body, that for a moment she forgot to whom those hypnotizing eyes belong.

Lord Gaara No Sabaku, King of the Immortals and known and worshipped as God in all of Sunagakure by humans. It was Lord Gaara who had summoned her..


	2. Chapter 1: The Devil's Arriving

**Here is chapter one! Just remember that the countries are different situated then in the manga/anime for my own convenience.**

**And thanks to those who left a review, it was surprisingly good for my motivation :)**

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**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS!**

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_Chapter 1: _The Devil's Arriving

The wind made the pages of her book turn and blew strands of black hair in her face. She smiled and searched for the page she was reading before the winds of the Land of Fire had interfered. She read the last sentence of the passage again:

'You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.'

She stared at the words for a while which composed such a beautiful sentence. Subsequently her eyes traveled to her right hand where a small golden ring adorned one of her fingers and with a small sigh she wished she couldn't sleep well…

Determined she closed the book and decided that no matter how lovely the phrase was, it didn't necessarily had to be true. Dr. Suess probably wasn't even a real doctor anyway, she mused while looking at the name of the writer, although he was a good author. More strings of her hair were blown in her face en she shut her eyes for some seconds to enjoy the simple touches of nature against her skin. She liked it when the elements got a little rough and therefore made her senses more aware of her surroundings. Strange as it sounds, it made her realize that she was alive then and there, that she was part of the world around her.

She opened her eyes again, rose from the big tree she had been leaning against and took a deep breath while taking in her surroundings. From the fresh green grass that seemed to grow everywhere on the hilly landscape, to the strong old trees which were scattered over the hills and formed a forest on the other side of the Naka river down the small hill. She loved the landscape surrounding Konoha, it was alive, fresh and she felt at home here.

Turning she saw someone walking towards her from the direction of the village. From this point of view, she was able to see a part of the heavy south wall protecting Konohagakure and the rooftops of the first houses. The figure however, who was looking up at her and waving, was distinctly clear by the energetic way he walked and his outer appearance. It was Naruto Uzumaki. Her heart fluttered slightly and at this point he wasn't only waving, but also calling her name, even though it must have been obvious she had already spotted him. "Oi, Hinata-chan!", her fiancée yelled to her.

Though Konoha has a long and rich history, there isn't a lot to tell about the village itself. It is a calm and peaceful village, ruled by the village elders and has been loyal to the Uchiha Family, the Immortals who rule the Land of Fire, since the settlement. Konohagakure, also nicknamed the Hidden Leaf Village, was settled in the forest near the borders of the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth and is often considered, as the nickname suggests, hidden since it's so hard to find if one doesn't know the way. In historical events it's often a returning occurrence that Konoha couldn't be found in the maze like forests by marching army's of the enemy.

The village wasn't very well known in its country, not for its fine, although few, ninja's, not for its wild nightlife (it doesn't have any, only one modest brothel which closes during daytime on weekdays to sell fabrics and wool), nor was or has it any political, tactical or industrial importance. Konoha's prosperity is mostly dependent on the agriculture which is scattered around the village and has a reasonable responsibility to ship the harvest to other parts of the country with the help of the earlier mentioned river.

Hidden so well in the woods, the residents of Konoha weren't frequently visited by people outside the village. There were mostly the acquainted merchandisers and the annual delegates from the ruling Uchiha Family to discuss this year's taxes, harvest and briefly notify the village elders on the political policy on the ongoing war with the Sabaku Family of the Land of Wind. Though Konohagakure had little to do with the latter, since the village's main concern was minding its own business.

It was in this setting both Hinata and Naruto were born and raised, although their life's hadn't been easy. She looked at him while he sat next to her in the grass, telling her a story of what happened to him the other day. Whenever Naruto talks his entire body talks with him, she thought, he's so full of energy and spirit. Hinata suppressed an affectionate smile, she always wished she could be more like him.

Even with the harsh fate of being an orphan, he practically raised himself and always retained his on foolishness bordering optimism. Nobody had really paid any attention to him and it wasn't until both her parents had died that she truly saw him and the strength and determination that ruled him. It was her acknowledgement of the importance of his existence that started a cautious friendship to bloom between them and led to a profound admiration from her side.

Naruto almost knocked her out of her pondering when he started to wave his arms frantically trying to personate just how upset the ramen-owner had been. "And then Hinata-chan, he turned all red and kept screaming: 'My ramen! My ramen! Stop that dog!', but the dog just ran Hinata-chan and then', he squeezed his eyes a little bit shut because of the laughter that he held back and leaned in as if to let the tension rise, 'everybody started to chase the dog and…' he started laughing, '…and nobody was able to catch him and everybody just fell on everybody…', he laughed even louder, '…and the dog … the dog just jumped out of the window and walked away!'

Naruto was lying on his side now, holding his belly and laughing with all the energy he had. Hinata pressed a hand against her mouth and giggled along with him, more because of Naruto's infectious laughter then the quality of his story.

Slowly Naruto came to himself and he sat up while staring in the distance appearing to think about something . Suddenly his face changed to one of earnest, "Still, it's a shame of all the ramen", he said with a serious tone.

Hinata didn't know how to respond to this and his sky-blue eyes looked at her from the side while his mouth slowly changed in a grin. "So what have you been doing Hinata-chan?" he asked loudly. Hinata shrugged and replied with soft tone: "Not much Naruto-kun, just enjoying the weather and reading a bit."

She showed the book she held in her hand and Naruto looked at it as if it was an object he had seen before, but never really knew what to do with exactly. He nodded, "Oh yeah… sounds like fun" he said unconvincing.

Unconsciously she traced with one of her fingers the golden ring, which symbolized a step in their relationship which she slowly had found out, they weren't ready to take. She saw him looking at her hands and stopped the fiddling. They stared at each other and an uncomfortable silence their friendship hadn't known before descended.

Lately it had passed her mind, that maybe, unlike she always had thought and ferociously had hoped, they would never be ready to take this step. Could it be that the feelings she considered to be love, were no more than profound admiration combined with friendship and an superficial teen crush of a naïf, day-dreaming young girl longing for love, security and affection? She sighed silently, she wished she wasn't so insecure about everything all the time.

Hinata felt a minor blush form on her cheeks out of confusion of it all, which reddened even more when Naruto suddenly sat closer and started staring anywhere but her way. His breathing had quickened a little, "Hinata-chan, I…" his mouth made some movements, but no words came out, he obviously was lost for words.

"This... This whole situation," he waved his hands between the two of them, "I am… it's not...", he sighed frustrated, "it's not really what we thought it would be, right? I mean this arranged marriage thing…" He scratched his head and looked up at her sheepishly.

Hinata started to feel a little light-headed, they had never really talked about this even though it's been a big, uncomfortable issue between them and they both know that the other knows it is so.

"Yes, it's not what we expected to happen when we were younger", she shot him a nervous smile. "Do y-you…" She hesitated and collected some courage, "Would you l-like to go to… to the elders to break o-off the engagement?" She hated her stutter, it was something she had developed after her parents died, but had overcome the last couple of years, with the exception of situations in which she was nervous or scared. She looked at Naruto from between her black eyelashes to gauge his reaction, she knew what she offered was an impossible option.

Even if they both agreed on ending the engagement, it would never be approved by the elders nor the residents of Konoha. Not only was it seriously frowned upon to break off an engagement (people get engaged and either get married or they die), it was absolutely out of the question when said engagement was arranged by the village elders.

The elders thought it was a very clever commitment from their side by coupling the poor orphan boy with no social status with the hopeless orphan girl with a small inheritance and a good family history. The elders thought they gave the both of them what they needed to integrate in society and at the same time the gossip about their questioned friendship would be invalidated. It never occurred to them once to ask the opinions of Naruto and Hinata, that's the way things are; the elders decide in Konoha.

He looked at her with a furrow between his eyebrows, "First of all, I would never do that to you Hinata-chan". He referred to the fact that people would mostly judge her since she's the girl and that they would question her character and virtue. Breaking off the engagement, would in all likelihood result in her becoming a social paria.

"Second of all, I know we aren't… you know…" He again looked everywhere but her way and his face had turned into a very tomato like color. "… I mean," he continued awkwardly, "I mean we're not… but I do think you… you know…" He sighed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, "I mean, when I saw you in the temple the other day, I realized…" His voice had softened significantly at this point and Hinata came a little closer as not to miss a thing he said. Though she wasn't sure where this was going, she would hate it to ask him to repeat his incoherent sentences, since it obvious caused the both of them so much stress and awkwardness.

"… I realized that I think you're really nice and that I can talk to you very well Hinata-chan" He flashed a quick look at her, "and I think you are very pretty." Those last words came out so quietly that Hinata barely was able to make out the content. She felt her cheeks heat up even more and stared at her feet while listening intently to the rest of Naruto's tangled monologue.

"You have pretty eyes, I like their soft lavender color," he spoke a little louder now, though he was still mumbling a bit, "and you have pretty skin and… and beautiful hair." He looked sideways at her and came a bit closer. "it looks so smooth and it shines beautiful in the light," he came even closer and one of his hands reached out to grasp a strand of hair close to her face. Naruto let it slide through his fingers looking a bit dreamy at it, "it's dark black, but in the sun" , he came closer until his lips touched the strand, "in the sun it turns blue."

He audible breathed in and looked her in the eyes, all Hinata could do was sit there and look at him. It was as if she couldn't move anymore. She looked at his flushed cheeks with the whiskers, his sun blond hair and those blue eyes that showed the beginning of a longing she couldn't place.

"That day I saw you in the temple", Naruto continued in a hoarse voice, "I realized that maybe I could love you eventually like a husband loves his wife, and maybe", he swallowed and looked down her figure, "maybe you could eventually love me, you know, like a wife loves her husband."

For a second Hinata was stunned, she felt several things at once and everything only added to the state of confusion she found herself in. On the one side she felt sort of nervously excited about Naruoto's current closeness. On the other side she was relieved that Naruto said these things, because this gave way for possibilities in their future that didn't include the both of them being unhappy. On the other side, she felt guilty and desperate, for didn't she recently come to the realization that her supposed love for Naruto perhaps isn't love at all? If so, and she was becoming fairly certain it was, she didn't think she could give him the love he talked about at the moment.

"Naruto…" Again she could only look at him, it would be so much easier if he wasn't so close, it was a serious breach of etiquette on his part. "I…"

"I know it's a bit sudden", he laughed a bit sheepishly and unhappy if that's even possible, "I uh… I'm just trying to say that maybe things can work out for us eventually." He looked at the ground, "Just saying I think you're a nice girl…", he raised his head to look at the sky, but decided the ground nevertheless was more interesting and stared intently at the grass again.

Hinata could only stare at him, "You really think that Naruto-kun?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "You think w-we can have a happy future together?"

His face looked uncertain, "It's a possibility, isn't it? Just think about it Hinata-chan." After that Naruto sat really still and when he looked up again, Hinata could feel the mood between them shift.

"Hinata…" He breathed her name softly, "don't move, I… I want to try something." Carefully he leaned in closer until their noses were almost touching. Oh Kami, he's going to kiss me, was all she could think. Hinata saw him close his eyes and bridge the last centimeters of space between their lips.

She felt his lips press against hers softly, trying. It felt soft and warm. Hinata closed her eyes as well, hadn't she dreamed about this moment almost for years? All she could feel was her heart beating overtime and she heart her blood rushing in her ears.

Naruto withdrew a bit and just when Hinata thought she could breathe again, his lips were back with more a bit more vigor. When she felt the tip of his tongue gently stroke her lips she felt a jolt of surprise pass through her body. She didn't know what to do or how to react. Emotionally she felt confused, but physically it wasn't a bad feeling. It actually made her feel warm inside and now she thought about it, there was an exciting tingle in her lower abdomen she hadn't felt before. Unconsciously she pressed her legs a bit closer while they slowly let their now lubricated lips slide against each other.

Naruto made a moaning sound and withdrew again. After a couple of seconds she opened her eyes. Naruto didn't look at her and instead had is head a bit lowered and his hands pressed in his lap. His posture seemed strained and she could see black dots starting to appear around him.

When he looked up, his expression suddenly changed in one of concern. "Hinata-chan, you're turning blue!" He looked at her in astonishment and then yelled:

"Breathe Hinata! You have to breathe!"

It all went black from that point and the last thing she remembered was wondering why the earth was falling towards her.

It was only seconds later her body remembered how to inhale and fresh air streamed in her lungs. Sweet, cool, fresh air filled with delicious oxygen. From a distance she could hear Naruto scream at her and when she opened her eyes she saw his worried face floating above her.

Why is he still so close to her? It doesn't make the breathing-thing more easy at the moment… She slowly sat up, "Are you okay Hinata-chan?"

She nodded, "Y-Yes, I-I am now Naruto-kun, I'm s-sorry for-for making y-you w-worry." She looked up at him and felt a heat spread over her cheeks. Naruto seemed to relax a bit and he smiled a crooked smile, "Oi, you had me really worried there Hinata-chan."

"I-I'm sorry", Hinata apologized again, bowing her head in embarrassment.

"Oh, don't worry, I just must be that good of a kisser no?" He laughed loud at his own joke, but when their eyes briefly met and he realized what he had said, he fell quiet mid laugh and suddenly seemed extremely interested in the south wall of Konoha in the distance.

Hinata looked at his reddened, uncomfortable looking face and wasn't sure what to say to break the uneasy silence. So they just sat there for a while, thinking about what they had done and being awkwardly conscious of the other one sitting next to the other, both knowing they were both thinking about it and both knowing the both of them knew nothing to say.

But Naruto wouldn't be Naruto if he could sit still for more than ten seconds and soon he was repositioning. A couple of seconds passed before he decided to sit cross-legged. His eyes looked at the surroundings then at her, then the surroundings again and back to her. Hinata just sat there steeling glances of him unless he was looking at her, then she tried to avoid his gaze.

It was obvious Naruto wanted something to be said and they started to talk at the same time.

"Do you-"

"What is-"

They tried again:

"I'm sor-"

"Sorry wha-"

They fell silent and looked at each other. Hinata could feel a giggle come up and gave in, while at the same time Naruto laughed his loud laugh.

Next it was quiet again, their laughter hadn't cleared the air up as much as she hoped it would have. It was just awkward, when she looked at him it didn't feel right that they just had kissed (she blushed again at the thought of it). Naruto was a friend and, even though the kiss had felt nice, at the same time it had felt very wrong to do it with Naruto. Hinata was the first to speak again.

"Do you think anyone saw us?" She asked timid. Naruto inspected the area in a flash and shrugged, "No, I don't think so."

He bit his under lip, this is something she hardly sees him do and it indicates there is something of more serious matters on his mind. "Actually, there are some strange rumors and I think people will stay indoors more for the moment."

Hinata frowned, strange rumors? She hadn't heard anything yet. Naruto looked up looking like his usual self again, "That's way I came here Hinata-chan! To tell you to watch out a bit."

"What kind of rumors?" She asked, Naruto shrugged again, "Just rumors, something about the war coming closer." Hinata laughed surprised, "The war? Coming closer to Konoha?" She laughed again softly, "The Devils are barely halfway the Land of Earth, what could bring them to Konoha, assumed that they can find it?"

The Sabaku Family were referred to as The Devils in the Land of Fire, because of their defy of the real Gods, the Uchiha Family. Hinata pressed her index and middle finger gently against her lips and after that against her forehead in a practiced sign to bless and thank the Immortals Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha, the kings of the Land of Fire, their Gods.

She smiled confidently at him, "Don't worry Naruto-kun, those are just rumors."

"I know", he responded, "but I mean, there is more than that. This last week there have been some strange things going on across the border of the Land of Earth." He was silent for a second as if he was pondering to continue, "I heard it has even made Lord Danzo wary."

Lord Danzo, one of the village elders, is what popularly is called a half-breed, it means one of his ancestors was an Immortal and it is said, that far away in the past, there are ties with the Uchiha Family. There are however many generations between him and his alleged ancestor, since he hasn't got any Immortal like features beside the fact that he's a lot stronger and faster than a normal human could ever be.

Hinata wouldn't know whether it was true or not, since she only has caught glimpses of Lord Danzo in the past and she never met any other half-breed or Immortal for that matter.

Hinata reflected on this new piece of information, but decided to be optimistic. "It's still just rumors Naruto-kun, besides" she continued with soft voice, "Lord Itachi and Lord Sasuke would never let anything happen to loyal inhabitants of the Land of Fire."

"Hnf…" was Naruto's reaction, he seemed to hesitate, "that's not what one of the merchandisers says", he looked at her reaction, "he said humans are just pawns for them-"

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata interrupted him with an appalled voice, "You can't speak like that about our Gods!"

"Whoa!" He screamed, "I'm just repeating what the other guy said!" He looked away defensively.

"Lord Itachi Uchiha has ruled the Land of Fire for hundreds of years, he's a fair and justice God", Hinata repeated the words she had heard the priest say many times.

"Yeah well" Naruto looked rebellious, "apparently some people think all God does, is watch us and kill us when we get boring." He looked at her mockingly serious, "I guess we must never, ever be boring." She found this an unexpected profanity, especially coming from Naruto. When Naruto noticed her poorly concealed shocked astonishment, he took her completely by surprise for the second time by suddenly blurting out:

"I can grow up when the time comes Hinata."

There was something in the way he said it, in the mature tone of his voice or the sincere way he looked at her, that touched something in her. She realized once again what a special person Naruto really was and that even if she couldn't really love him, she would try so with all her might.

…

The man ran as quick as he could in the dark night, there it was! He was relieved he found it so fast and quickly walked around to locate the servant entrance at the side of the house. He knocked as loud as he could.

"Open the door! This is an emergency message for Lord Danzo! Open the door!"

It took less than half a minute before the door opened and the sleep drunk head of a young man appeared. "Wha…", he moaned, "What's the emergency?"

"I need to speak to Lord Danzo directly!" When the servant didn't react quick enough, the man pushed him aside and barged inside, ignoring the protests of the servant. "Where's his Lord Danzo's room?"

"It's up the stairs on the left, but what… hey, wait! What's going on?" The man sprinted up the stairs, "I said wait! You can't just burst inside, you need to wait!" The servant was completely ignored and stumbled behind the man the servant-boy had finally recognized as a ninja of Konoha.

The ninja knocked on the door three times, when he heard noise coming from inside he entered immediately and fell on one knee. "Lord Danzo, I apologize for disturbing you at this hour, but we-"

"Grha… WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" Lord Danzo's angry voice interrupted him, the ninja looked up and saw the elder sitting up in bed. "I'm sorry Lord Danzo, but there is need for immediate action-"

"JIRO! What's going on here?" The servant walked in at that precise moment and bowed for his livid master while mumbling excuses.

"LORD DANZO! Please listen to me!" The ninja practically begged and Lord Danzo stopped screaming insults at his servant long enough to finally notice the complete distress which held the ninja. "Sir, Konoha is surrounded by the army of King Gaara No Sabaku and he threatens to completely destroy Konoha if we don't open the gate within the hour in complete submission."


	3. Chapter 2: Turning Point

**For those few who were following this story (or intended to do so), sorry for the very, very, very late update!**

**WARNING:**** there will be ****hints of lemon**** in this chapter. Don't like, don't read.**

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**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS!**

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_Chapter 2: Turning point_

A shiver runs over Hinata's spine, she wraps her arms around herself while trying to suppress the feeling of worry and uneasiness. Something is wrong, she knows some of the others can feel it too.

She looks sideways over to Momoka, the older woman with whom she and the few other orphan girls from Konoha live. The woman looks more disgruntled than worried whilst she sits stiffly in her big chair. As the mistress she always behaves like, she overlooks the little living room. The other girls, at the most ten of them, quietly sit scattered around in the room. Every now and then they would ask each other on whispered tones what possibly could be wrong, but anything that might have ended in an actual conversation was abruptly ended by Momoka's stern and disapproving look. And so they all wait in the candlelight as ordered, as the clock implacable ticks away the seconds.

Hinata exchanges glances with Kirin, one of the two girls she shares a room with, and they smile an encouraging smile to each other. Then Hinata continues to look at the clean, but worn-out floor and tries not to let the tiredness get to her. She can feel something is off and it keeps her busy. Just when she wants to sight out of sleepiness, everybody looks up at a noise in the distance.

Hinata frowns as she concentrates on the sounds, it obviously comes from farther away, from the city center and it seems as if… Her train of thoughts are broken by Kirin, who came to the same conclusion just seconds before herself.

"Are those… people screaming?" Kirin asks worried, her freckled face turning in one of worry and unbelief.

...

It hadn't been more than over an hour ago everybody had been woken out of their sleep by one of the warning bells Konoha used in case of an emergency. Hinata had woken slightly confused, not able to place the sound immediately. As usual when she woke up, either in the morning or in the night, she was a little disoriented en felt the need to cuddle her blanket and ignore everything else. Yui had woken her completely with her loud, piercing voice: "What's going on? Is that the emergency bell?"

Hinata opened her eyes and sat up in bed looking slightly dazed around in the dark room. Kirin was sitting as well and they looked at each other questioningly. Kirin was obviously annoyed by Yui's loud manners as Hinata heard her sight irritated.

"Keep it down a little Yui!" Kirin whispered harshly, "If that really would be the emergency bell, they would loud more than just this one!" She sighed again. Hinata didn't comment, as she always tried to avoid conflict. She didn't like it when people had words, Kirin had said more than once that Hinata was to gentle for her own good and should stand up for herself more. Now Hinata concentrated on the sound as well, it confused her, because just as Kirin pointed out, there was only one bell.

Then the sound abruptly stopped and the last tone echoed softly in her ears. They exchanged a look with each other as the silence of the night washed over them. The bell hadn't rung more than ten seconds and the abrupt silence of it, predicted something morbid.

"Hnf…" Kirin snorted, "probably just an error". She let herself fall on her pillow and closed her eyes again. Yui however, always more eager to know everything about everyone at every time, got out of bed, grabbed her gown and opened the door.

Hinata sat undecided, on the one side she didn't want to leave her toasty warm bed, but on the other side she was curious too about what was going on. She heard some whispering noises on the hallway indicating that they weren't the only ones up and about. She glided out of bed and grabbed her robe.

Just as Hinata walked out of her room, Momoka walked past her with firm steps. "Quiet girls! Everybody back in their rooms!" With rough movements she walked down the stairs, then abruptly turned around, "and put on a morning robe, this isn't a brothel!"

Eventually it had taken around ten minutes before Leaf ninja's had come by in the streets and quickly ordered everybody to get back inside and wait for further instructions. So there they all were, all dressed in warmer clothes, waiting for the message which would tell them it was all a mistake and everybody could go back to sleep. Nevertheless, after the ninja's had left, there had been an atmosphere on the streets which was heavy with the prospect of something eventful.

Now, after hearing people scream in the distance, everyone sat in silent shock, their eyes wide with horror. Hinata had risen, her hand pressed over her mouth.

"Oh kami, what's happening?" "Why are those people screaming?" "What is going on?" "Who are tho-"

"Everybody, BE SILENT!" Momoka hissed the words to the girls, while her hands gripped her chair convulsively and her face grimaced. Her stance gave away her agitation and with half closed eyes she concentrated on the softening sounds. When the noises started to fade, she decisively walked to the window and peeped through the curtains down the street.

The half hour before the point where they could even grasp how bad the situation was for Konoha, was charged with anxiety and everybody just sat there, waiting for whatever faith was bestowed on them. They heard the noise of marching people coming closer, the noise of rough voices giving military orders, the noise of confusion. It was as if unconsciously they had known something would've come and when they heard the hard knock on their door and a harsh voice call out, they accepted it as if they had known it was inevitable.

There was a second of complete silence before the door was opened with brute force. It was as if for that second Hinata's entire world stopped moving, it was as if she was in a vacuum and had all the time to take in the situation. The slightly seedy living room, the candles which only lighted the center of the room, the ghost like faces of her fellow orphans, Momoka walking to the door with a glint of fear in her eyes Hinata had never seen before. Hinata would look back later and would always be able to remember that moment vividly, she would know exactly where everybody stood, the expressions on their faces, the smell of her clothing. That moment, the marking point of on the one side her innocent, predictable and safe life in her home city and on the other side a dark, painful and lonely existence in a foreign place, represented such a sharp contrast, that it would hurt her later to recall.

As soon as the door was opened with so much force the lock broke, the moment was over and everything went too rapid for Hinata to comprehend. As slow and well-known the seconds before were, as fast and confusing those seconds were now.

Suddenly the room was filled with big men dressed in an unrecognizable uniform, some of them stumped up and throughout the house.

"Everybody up and form a line!" One of the men ordered. Hinata had expected at least someone, someone like Momoka, to question their authority; who were they and what were they doing here. But everybody stayed quiet and obeyed, even Momoka, who before this moment hadn't taken orders from anyone.

They just stood next to the wall with pounding hearts, when another man walked in. This one was obvious of higher ranking as the other ninja's quieted around and made way for him. Hinata's heart pounded in her chest en she clasped her sweaty hands together.

The man took a short look around and then focused on the girls. When Hinata took a quick glance, she could feel her eyes widen in surprise. The man had painted his face with a purple triangular design, probably to intimidate enemies. His uniform was completely black and he wore a black hood with what appeared to be cat ears.

He walked along the line of orphan-girls with an emotionless face when his eyes caught hers watching him. She quickly turned her focus to the floor, her heart was now beating even faster. She felt her cheeks turn red as the man stopped in front of her. Oh kami, why did she had to look? Now his attention was on her…

He stood still before her and for several seconds the silence was only broken by the footsteps of the other ninja's going through the house. Hinata felt his gaze rest on her and she clasped her now shaking hands together.

A shock went through her body when he grabbed her chin and forced her to look up to him. Hinata heard one of the girl next to her squeak at the sudden movement and she swallowed nervously. He wasn't hurting her, but she could clearly feel the fixed grip of his rough hands.

Hinata had trouble to not look away, his eyes were cold and scrutinizing and it felt as if he could look right through her. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, he dropped her chin and turned around abruptly to some of the waiting men.

She heard him say something to them, but relief flowed through her body like a wave and she didn't listen. It was therefore that when two of the men each grabbed one of her arms, she was taken by surprise.

Hinata stumbled along and before she knew what was happening, she felt the cool night air against her skin. Again she expected someone to ask what they were doing, to stop them and to ask why they thought they were allowed to invade her life like this. But again, no one said or did anything and they only watched with wide eyes of shock.

Hinata could barely keep up when they marched out of her street, she wanted to turn around and look at her house, but she was too caught between the two ninja's to turn her head around properly.

Her mouth was dry and her body was shaking with adrenaline. What was going on?

"Whe… where are y-you t-t-taking me-e?" It came out like a whisper.

She looked up to one of the two ninja's, but couldn't see his face because of the masks that covered all their faces. Whether they didn't hear her or ignored her she didn't know, but they kept walking at a fixed pace.

It was then that Hinata noticed another squad in another street forcing themselves entry in a house. Next to the squad she saw a Konoha ninja who looked grim and unwillingly nodded as a response to the foreign squad leader.

It went still in her head as she realized what really was going on; Konoha didn't have this many ninja's and if they did, those ninja's certainly would've worn Leaf headbands and wouldn't be raiding the city like this.

Hinata's breath caught in her throat as she realized they were taking her. They were _taking _ her away! She made a squeaky noise as panic took over and tried to break free. Her guards only grabbed her more tighter and almost lifted her up as her struggle continued.

Her left guard growled, "Stop moving!"

"Aaah..!" Hinata screamed as her arms started to burn of pain of their fierce grip. "Who are you? Where are you taking me!"

She heard the hysteria in her own voice as she kept struggling and felt tears in her eyes.

"Be quiet!" They roughly shook her a couple of times until she stopped struggling.

She didn't like what was happening, she felt sick to her stomach and wanted to go back to the orphanage. Would she be able to go back? All her thoughts were tumbling in her head and she just couldn't comprehend what was happening to her.

No, this isn't happening to me, this can't be happening to me!

Just when Hinata wondered how much longer they would have to walk, her guards stopped. She recognized the street, they were in the city center with the main city square just around the corner.

Her guards shoved her against the wall and she almost fell on the ground before she could grab a hold onto the wall. The skin on her hands opened a little.

"Are you carrying anything with you? Any weapons or jewelry or anything?"

Hinata looked at them infatuated, why were they asking that now? When one guard stepped closer, she quickly shook her head and backed down against the wall. "N-no, I-I'm not c-carry-ying anything."

"Hnf, we'll see, take of your jacket and shoes."

She looked at them in unbelief, were they serious? It was quite chilly (the reason they had sat in their jackets in the living room) and she couldn't do that! It was very indecent.

"Want one of us to do it?" Was the harsh reaction when she didn't responded.

This had Hinata immediately pull down the zipper of her jacket with shaking hands, she wasn't sure what they were planning, but knew it could be bad. She didn't actually know what 'bad men' did, as her was told by Momoka, but she knew it was really bad and that she should be very ashamed if it happened. She tried not to think about what Yui had once whispered, that it had something to do with a man touching a woman.

The guard on her right picked up her jacket and shoes and started to go through the pockets. The guard on her left stared at her for a second and then said: "Take of that vest as well and go stand flat against the wall with your back to me."

The way he looked and talked to her gave her an unsettling feeling she had never felt before and slowly she complied.

The wall felt rough and Hinata shivered as the cold started to penetrate her body which was now only covered by her panties, socks and her white, cotton night gown. Even though it was a disgrace that men saw her in her night gown, Hinata was happy she didn't have to take that off as well. At least her night gown covered her entire arms and the length went through until just above the ground.

The guard grabbed her hair and pressed her face against the stone wall and Hinata twisted her face in pain. "No tricks or you'll regret it."

Then she felt his hands go through her hair and pat down to her neck. She whimpered when his boots shoved her feet further apart and put her arms higher up the wall.

He finally let go of her hair and patted down her arms as well. Hinata shivered from the cold and her nerves, no one had ever touched her so thoroughly and she didn't like it at all.

The guard continued to search her body for any hidden objects and patted and stroked his way down her body. When he arrived at her buttocks he gave them an experimental squeeze and a little scream escaped Hinata.

Oh kami, what was he doing? She heard him chuckle as he partly traced the lines of her underwear. Then he continued down her legs and even felt under her feet. All the while Hinata tried to keep her cool and pushed away the tears that threatened to fall. She prayed this would all be over soon and that no one ever had to find out about what happened tonight.

Then she felt him lift up her night gown and her heart missed a beat. One of his hand rapidly went up her leg until it rested against her panties, cupping her behind. Hinata stiffened, she started to panic again and didn't know what to do.

She gasped for air when she felt his fingers push gently against her panties between her buttocks. She stiffened and wasn't able to think, she only registered her own embarrassment and humiliation as the man rubbed up and down a couple of times. Then his hand was gone and out of her night gown.

"Remind me again how we decided to divide the workload like this?" She heard the other guard say with an amused tone.

She heard the guard behind her snicker and stand up, "You wanna finish? It's an innocent little thing."

"That's okay, have your fun. She's a little too frigid for my taste. We'll just have to agree you'll do the next male as well." The guard said laughing.

The guard behind her said nothing and pulled her hair again as to force her to turn around and press her back against the wall. "Spread your arms and legs again" he ordered.

With wide eyes and an unsettling suspicion Hinata complied. She felt like crying when she felt his hands stroke quickly from her throat and over her arms again.

She could almost feel how his attention was now on her big breasts and she looked away. His hands cupped her breasts gently and followed their form a couple of times.

"What's this?" his voice sounded deeper, "I feel two little nubs, what could you be hiding there, hmm?"

He rubbed his thumbs over her nipples a couple of times, they had been a bit hard before as a reaction to the cold and now Hinata's body reacted naturally by hardening them even more, which the guard noticed.

"I-I.. I'm not h-hid-d-ding anything!" a sob escaped her, "p-please, please st-stop…"

He playfully pinched her nipples one more time, harder than before, and let his hands slip down her belly and along her hips. Then he dropped on his knees and lifted her night gown again.

At first Hinata looked at him with confused eyes, but when she felt his hand go up again and she realized where it was going, she screamed and grabbed his arm.

"Let go girl, I'm just following the protocol. Very thoroughly." She heard them both chuckle and tears streamed down her face. She desperately looked up and down the street in the hopes that someone could help her, but saw no one.

The guard took a strong hold on both her hands by grabbing them by the wrist and his other hand went under her night gown again. There was nothing Hinata could do to stop him, she squeezed her eyes shut and started praying in her head.

A noise of disgust escaped her when she felt his flat hand press against her panties at that very private place. She never had thought, that someone would touch her like this.

He rubbed back and forth a couple of times and then let go. "Hnf, no fun when they're crying like this", he mumbled.

Just when he removed his hand from her night gown, another man appeared out of nowhere.

"What's going on here?" The authority in the voice of the newcomer made Hinata open her tearful eyes and immediately she recognized the man with the purple face paint.

"Kankuro-dono, sir!" Both her guards bowed deep as a greeting. Hinata was too afraid to move as she saw Kankuro take in the situation.

Kankuro's eyes narrowed, "Why is she still here? I ordered her to bring her to collect place B."

"We were still searching for anything she could carry with her sir."

Kankuro looked at her again with a skeptical expression and then slowly turned to look at the guards again. Even though his gaze wasn't meant for her, Hinata felt the hairs on her body rise of the sensing danger.

"Really?" Kankuro said with a low and cold voice, "I think the _orphan girl_ is searched enough now and deemed to be of no danger, am I right?"

Nobody answered and apparently Kankuro didn't expect one since he just continued talking, now with a sneer: "On the other hand, it can't have been a very thorough search, since she's still wearing a ring."

In a different situation Hinata may have found it comical how the heads of both her guards simultaneously turned to her hand, but now she was simply afraid of the sudden attention to her person.

"We ahum… we were just gonna take that away from her sir" one of the guards responded. Startled Hinata covered her engagement ring with her other hand.

"Were you now…" Kankuro stared at them, Hinata shivered out of fear and only then realized how cold she was as well.

Kankuro's eyes flashed back to her before he focused on the guards again. "You two know what will happen to her," he stated with a low and suspiciously calm voice, "and you both know who owns her now."

Something in the demeanor of the guards changed and for several seconds Hinata was afraid that for some reason, Kankuro was going to kill the two guards and then do terrible things to her.

Instead Kankuro stepped very close to the guard that searched her jacket, "Get her to the wagon, it's almost leaving." Then his emotionless face changed into an sadistic grin, "After this is over, the both of you can report to me."

Suddenly he disappeared and Hinata's eyes widened, she hadn't even seen him leave. Her guards exchanged a quick glance and turned to her, which made her pale and she hid her hand with the ring behind her.

"P-please…" Hinata begged them, but even she could hear in her own voice that she knew it was a lost supplication.

...

Kankuro stepped into the tent which had been set up for him and let his eyes adjust to the light inside. He had traveled all afternoon and evening to breach the distance of the caravan with the Leaf spoils to the temporarily encampment where his general stayed.

He was tired and dusty and desired a bath, some nice, willing company and than a good night of sleep.

"How did it go?" Any more thoughts Kankuro might have had, were broken by the boringly asked question.

He looked at the cold, emotionless face of his younger half brother and fell respectfully on his knees.

"Everything went as planned My Lord, the caravan is on its way to Hirusha, the temples and fires have been lit without any problems and there was no observable sight of the Uchiha forces."

Gaara remained silent for a few seconds, signaling Kankuro could stand up. Kankuro rose and glanced shortly in the direction from where he heard the movement of a chain. A young woman with chestnut hair was chained with a collar to one of the tent poles, clad in a short kimono that fell open until her navel. He got a good eyeful of the creamy skin of her leg and felt something warm stir in his loin.

Kankuro turned his gaze back to Gaara again and saw that his general was observing him. "What about the special assignment I gave you?"

Again Kankuro couldn't detect a trace of emotion in either Gaara's voice or facial expression. He kept his own tone deliberately neutral, "I tracked all females with rich blood in the districts you indicated My Lord, they're with the caravan, but are separated from the other women, and await your orders in Hirusha."

Gaara nodded slowly, "very well." Gaara walked toward the tent opening and Kankuro bowed as he passed, "the debriefing tomorrow is at 08:00."

Kankuro sighed, that was way too early for what he was planning for tonight. He looked at the woman, who in her turn looked up with a slightly insecure look in her eyes. He grinned and she bowed for him, touching the ground with her forehead.

When she sat up again the movement made her kimono fall off of both her shoulders exposing her breasts to him.

"My apologies master," her soft voice purred, "but I've been a very naughty slave and I've been told to wait here, until my master punishes me."

She looked up at him with fake innocent eyes and Kankuro's grin grew wider while he felt himself harden in anticipation. "Well my little slave girl, as your master I have just the thing to discipline you."

Kankuro started opening his belt and pushed away any lingering thoughts he had about Lord Gaara and the strange command to separate women from certain districts from the other women they had enslaved in Konoha.


	4. Chapter 3: Deprivation

**A/N:** First of all, sorry for the very very very late update for those who follow this story. I kind of got busy with other stuff and I found this chapter difficult to write, which wasn't very motivating. It's not my best work, but at least I can continue now. Enjoy!

**WARNING**: there will be **violence** in this chapter. Don't like, don't read.

…

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF its CHARACTERS!**

…

_Chapter 3: Deprivation_

A painful heat crept down from her head and clawed itself in her neck, making it impossible to lift her head without feeling like something was trying to squash her muscles. Hinata moaned from pain, she felt exhausted and wailed. The fever she had for a couple of days now, persisted and she could feel the energy leaving her body with every move she made.

She watched bright sunlight shine through the curtains and realized it was morning. She had no clue of what day it was or even what month. She had no idea where she was or where some of the other girls had been taken. Sometime during her rising fever, she had stopped caring, she was simply too exhausted.

Without emotion Hinata realized she had a moment of clarity and that those moments came with increasing intervals that should've worried her. She coughed a little and it burned her lungs and throat to do so. That was a new pain…

With a dullness that had been created by a constant struggle against her nightmares, she realized that today she entered the last stage of the illness: her lungs would slowly stop working.

Hinata had seen enough of the other people from Konoha get torn out of this world by this vicious illness to know this was the beginning of the end for her. As soon as one of the patients started to have trouble breathing, it was only a matter of time. She had been one of the last girls to catch this disease and had picked up enough pieces of conversation between the doctors and their guardians, to know there was no antidote.

She heard someone whisper incoherently besides her and slowly moved her head a couple of inches to look at the girl next to her. A girl, not many years older than Hinata, lied on the bed next to her. Her dark brown hair was spread across the pillow and there was a frown on her pale face. Hinata tried to remember her name, she didn't know the girl very well, but she knew that the girl had arrived in Hirusha in a different carriage then Hinata's group and therefore had no silver bracelet. Everybody had a silver bracelet in Hinata's group.

Then, Hinata suddenly remembered;

Tenten.

The girl's name was Tenten. And she looked surprisingly better than before.

Hinata slowly moved her head back as the few stripes of light started to hurt her eyes. Everything hurt her eyes these days. Vaguely she wondered why Tenten hadn't past away yet, she clearly remembered the girl started coughing during her own first signs of illness, what must have been a week ago from now.

Hinata felt her eyes close. Restlessness overcame her as she went back to her fever induced delirium state of mind, where distorted memories rolled into one big nightmare.

Slowly the image of the city centre of Konoha builds itself around her. It was a recurring nightmare about her last hours in Konoha and the horrible end her home city and fellow citizen had met.

She felt again how her two previous guards, now with misshaped demon-like faces, drag her through the streets to the city square where the smell of smoke and blood fills her nose. Torches create dark shadows on the dark ground, but clearly illuminate a dozen or so stakes and body's scattered around everywhere. At first it's unclear as what the dark forms are surrounding the stakes, but then a dreadful feeling arises in the pit of Hinata's stomach. She tries to swallow, but her throat is too dry and her guards drag her ruthlessly to the other end of the square.

Hinata is now forced to see that almost the entire square is filled with the foreign ninja's. She feels her heart drop when she recognizes the symbol of the Devil. Her guards are quickening their pace and sometimes her feet are dragged over the ground, but either they don't notice or don't care. She starts to feel a paralyzing panic take over. With every passing second it starts to sink in that this whole situation is completely wrong and that it'll never be okay again. That nothing can go back as things were…

Hinata cries out as she gets shoved into a hard body, but before she can fall two big hands force her painfully up. It takes a while before she finds the courage to look up and she realizes that her guards are telling her new guard something about her.

Before she knows what's happening the big guard jerks her hand up and takes a couple of steps to the back. Because of his heavy dialect it takes some seconds before she can translate his loud question to her two former guards. She prepares to struggle as the translation hits her, but breathes relieved when she hears her guards answers that she already has been searched. Hinata didn't think she could live through something like that again.

From where she stands the guard is only a big dark shadow with the torches emphasizing his contour. With big eyes she looks at her hand which looks small and alien like in his big calloused one. He reaches for something and starts squeezing her hand together hard.

"Auu…!" Hinata cries out again and can only watch as the guard wriggles a bracelet on her hand. He then lets something Hinata recognize as chakra flow from his hands and the bracelet closes around her wrist with minimal space between her skin. Next he grabs her by her neck and hair and ties both her hands above her head to a horizontal pole where other girls are tied up in the same position.

Hinata lets out a haggard breath and it feels as if she can breathe again for the first time in a very long time. She dares only to take a glance at the other girls, who look the same as she must do; confused, dirty, very scared and with a bracelet. She looks up to study it closer and sees it's a silver like bracelet with the inscription the kanji of love.

Then she hears a scream that makes her sick to the stomach, it's a raw sound of utter pain and desperation. When she found the source, Hinata wished she hadn't looked. A person was being staked right at this moment... Two men forced him to sit on the sharp end and slowly pull his body down until he's pierced to his mandible. The man twitches and moans pathetically, like an animal.

Hinata feels all energy leave her body as she slowly collapses in utter horror. The images and screams dance around her, taunting her. Before she knows what's happening, she and the other girls are loaded in a cart like cattle and she leaves the city gates. The gates of her beloved Konoha, which she only walked through freely half a day earlier. She tries screaming, but no sound comes out. She falls on her knees and tries to reach out, as if holding on to the gates in any way could help her or assure her that she will see them again.

It isn't until much later, when one of the girls starts screaming and hysterically points at the red horizon, that Hinata passes out. The red light and the overwhelming smell of fire, is the final straw that breaks her. Hinata now knows she'll never be able to go back home again.

Hinata twists and turns in her hospital bed, with only the image of her friends and her house being burned on her mind.

... ...

Kankuro paced towards the stone building, his heart pounding with dread. He had arrived the day before in Hirusha and the situation had been worse than expected. The moment it had been ordered to separate certain girls, Kankuro knew this was a command of some personal importance to Lord Gaara. Although he had some thoughts of his own about why his Lord had ordered him to do that, he wasn't entirely sure why and therefore wasn't sure how important it actually was.

Well, Kankuro grimly thought while walking past the guards, he would find out in less than a minute. He would probably be punished just the same, since no matter how great the importance, orders were orders and this one had been poorly followed. In his defence, this had been beyond his reach.

He didn't stop to let his eyes get used to the darkness inside, but swiftly walked to the door where he knew his Lord waited for him. No sense in beating around the bush, he thought, he was a soldier of the Devil's Army and would take any obstacle with his head up.

In less than three seconds the door was opened by a servant and he hurried himself inside. Kankuro instantly met with a dark silhouette standing at the window across the room. The setting sun set Gaara's red hair on fire, making it seems as if his Lord had a halo of fire.

He fell on his knees, "My Lord".

His voice was low and controlled, but sounded loud in the silent room. Gaara however, kept looking out the window, completely ignoring Kankuro's presence. After several minutes Gaara quietly turned around facing his still bowing brother. He walked towards him with the confidence of a man who knows his place in the world and those of the people around him. Kankuro felt his stomach squeeze in nervous anticipation and suppressed the feeling. The last thing he needed was to give his Lord a weakness that could be exploited.

Gaara stood a few feet from Kankuro, giving him a cold glare. Even though his Lord was dressed like a noble, moved like one and talked like one, there was still something animalistic in his glowing eyes that were the complete opposite of the superior civilized attitude most nobles pretended to have. Kankuro knew all too well how much of a sadistic savage his younger brother could be. Even though those days were mostly in the past, when Gaara was aggravated too much...

Gaara's cold, soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Are my orders that hard to follow, Kankuro?"

It was silent for a couple of seconds, but Kankuro knew better than to answer.

"Two, Kankuro..." Gaara's smooth voice continued, "Two of the sixteen are still alive..."

Cold shivers ran down his back, Kankuro had the uneasy feeling his Lord was more angry than he was letting on. He heard Gaara bend down slightly to him.

"Care to explain, mydear_ brother_?" Gaara all but spat that last word. Kankuro steadied his voice before answering; it was never a good sign when his Lord acknowledged their family relation. Kankuro knew Gaara couldn't care less about that.

"My Lord, I executed your orders exactly as you commanded. There has been a default during the implementation and I will personally look into where and with whom that fault lies." Kankuro unwillingly straightened his back slightly, "as your subordinate and the managerial of this task, I'll take full responsibility for the outcome."

Kankuro heard a soft rustling sound from the back of the room, travelling form two sides of the room towards him. His blood froze in his veins, he would recognize that sound anywhere, but he didn't dare to look sideways.

"Do you have _any_ idea what I might have lost?!" Gaara hissed at him.

Kankuro kept his lips pressed together.

"I sincerely hope for your health that what I want is still here Kankuro," Gaara softly spoke in a threatening low voice.

Gaara straightened abruptly, pulled a cord and ordered his chamber servant: "Let them in."

From the corner of his eye Kankuro saw his Lord signalling him and he rose to his feet. The door opened to give room to two women flanked by two Imperial Guards. The women were both dressed in the same simple, grey tunic and cautiously shuffled into the room, keeping a submissive demeanour. They had dark circles under their eyes which contrasted sharply with their white faces and their skin seemed too loose around their bones, indicating a sudden weight loss. The fear of the two women became noticeably obvious when they kneeled on the floor and their hands, which were flat against each other above their heads, couldn't stop shaking.

Kankuro's eye caught the reflected light of the bracelet from a girl with her brown hair in two buns on top of her head. The engraved kanji 'love' glistened in the setting sunlight, the meaning almost mocking her current situation. Detached he took note of her supple body, which was still shivering on the ground, before he turned to his brother with little hope. For outsiders it may seem as if His Lord's face was as cold and impassive as always, but Kankuro noticed the dark shimmer in his green eyes and the slight stiffening of his stance. Now it was blatantly obvious what it was that Gaara had been searching for and Kankuro dreaded to think how this would end for him.

With firm steps Gaara reached the blonde woman and roughly forced her head up by pulling her hair. The woman shrieked and stared at him wide eyed. Her hands had reached up to where his fist was entwined with her hair, but stayed in the air, as if she was too afraid to touch Gaara, even when he was hurting her.

Kankuro couldn't see Gaara's eyes, but it must have been a frightening look, since the eyes of the woman screamed panic as tears started to slip away. Kankuro could smell her distress; it was pathetic how quick humans could be paralyzed by their fear, only able to look at it, like a deer caught in the light.

For a second Kankuro was sure the woman would be slaughtered, he heard the rustling sound again and had even caught a glimpse of moving sand in the corner of his eye. Gaara would lose his temper and Kankuro would be next in line, leaving nothing but a bloody mess of bones, muscle and intestines to clean for the servants.

However, his Lord seemed to regain his self-restraint just at the last moment as he threw the woman on the ground and turned his back to everyone in the room. Kankuro heard him slowly release his breath, "Put them with the others for sale."

An uncomfortable silence followed and one of the guards cleared his throat. "The others have already been sent either to Suna or sold My Lord."

Gaara's form radiated maliciousness, "Then sent them to Suna as well!" His voice lowered a bit. "And sent Yūra in…"

"Yes My Lord," the guards bowed in unison, grasped the two women and retreated. Kankuro watched as the blonde woman was practically dragged over the floor, but made brief eye contact with the brunette before she looked away frightened and pale faced.

He turned to his Lord and debated if he should take a chance or not risk of having Gaara's anger unleashed on him. Gaara had however, shown a great deal of restraint as it was, more than Kankuro would've thought was possible considering the circumstances. It seems Gaara's uncontrollable, cruel years really had been coming to an considered it and decided to take a chance. Cautiously he asked. "Yūra, My Lord?"

Yūra was a higher ranking officer who, among others, served as a trusted member of the advisory council of Gaara. He had earned this trust on the battlefield as well by his work by supporting Gaara conquering and maintaining the Land of the Earth. When Gaara was gone, it was Lord Nori who was in charge in Hirusha and Yūra was stationed one position below him. Hirusha was a city of tactical importance in the Land of Earth, and therefore an important position to hold. When Kankuro had personally delivered the women from Konoha, he had trusted Lord Nori would make sure Gaara's commands would have been carried out. This made Kankuro wonder what Yūra had to do with this all.

Gaara glanced at him, venom pooling in his eyes. "What were your exact orders for Lord Nori when you were here last time?"

"I told him we had come as far as Konoha to our own surprise and that I had the spoils from Konoha with me, among others some women who would become your personal slaves. They were to stay in Hirusha until further notice and they had to be well cared for." He inhaled weighting his words carefully, "I gave him an indication of when we would return to Hirusha and that I would immediately head back to you My Lord, since there were sightings of Uchiha forces further up north which demanded our immediate attention."

Kankuro watched his brother's back warily, Yūra obviously was in trouble. It had been Lord Nori's responsibility and duty to carry out the orders to keep the women save after Kankuro had delivered them. Kankuro was relieved Gaara didn't blame him for the consequences but rather focused on Yūra. Not that he didn't like Yūra, but if somebody was going to be skinned alive, preferable Yūra than himself.

However, something was wrong here, but Kankuro was unsure about what it was. The few things he had been informed about, was that one by one, all of the women had fallen ill with the disease called _Ignis_ _Ardentis_. This was an illness almost everyone in the Land of Wind got when they were young children and subsequently was immune for it.

_Ignis Ardentis_ was indeed more serious for human adults and could be fatal, but the death rates had been significantly higher with the slaves from Konoha. Kankuro's first thought had been that it was due to the different immune system the humans from Konoha had. Even though his own kind was a lot more resilient, their human soldiers and some of their half breeds were vaccinated depending on the country they were invading.

"And you said nothing more about it?"

Kankuro shook his head. "No My Lord, I kept it short and didn't put any more emphasis on the female slaves than necessary."

Gaara contemplated his response, "how did Lord Nori react on that particular part of his orders?"

Kankuro shrugged, he started to feel exceedingly uncomfortable. "He asked if there was a particular reason for the order and if there were special circumstances he should reckon with. I answered there weren't and that seemed to be about it."

Seen the malice radiating of His Lord, Kankuro was inclined to adjust his opinion that it was just bad luck the slaves had caught the illness. Obviously Gaara suspected Yūra of something and Kankuro wondered what His Lord knew that he didn't. He didn't like being kept in the dark; it could be very dangerous not to be aware of what was going on in your surroundings.

Before Gaara could ask any more questions they heard a knock on the door and Yūra came in.

The man fell on one knee, "My Lord."

Kankuro looked at the man; Yūra wore the standard officer's uniform of the Land of the Wind. Yūra's black hair covered the right part of his face and the left part that was visible didn't give away anything.

"Captain Yūra…" Gaara's voice practically purred and would have been comforting hadn't there been an undertone that made the hairs on Kankuro's arms rise. "How nice of you to join us."

Yūra's posture stiffened slightly and Kankuro could hear the man's heart rate pick up the pace a little. Yūra's face however, remained as blank as before.

"I read your part of the status rapport on Kurishina. Please, feel free to elucidate on any part."

Yūra responded respectfully, "My Lord, all I have to say is in the rapport."

"Really? How minutely of you Yūra, as expected." Gaara looked him death in the eyes. "Give it to me in speech."

It was quiet for a couple of seconds as Yūra slowly blinked. "Any particular part you would like me to start, My Lord?"

If Kankuro hadn't had the practice in maintaining a blank face as he had, his jaw would have dropped. Did Yūra have a death wish challenging Gaara like that?

Gaara just kept staring at Yūra. "Lord Nori reported you had the direct supervision over the human slaves from Konoha. He even was so kind to point out, you specifically requested this assignment." Yūra stayed silent. "Any particular reason for that Yūra?"

Yūra's face looked slightly strained. "It…" He gasped, "It was tragic My Lord."

Gaara smirked deviously. "Tragic indeed. So many deaths, Yūra, and only two survivors."

Gaara didn't speak anymore after that, but kept his cold gaze firmly on Yūra. Yūra swallowed loudly, "I…" He swallowed again and suddenly Kankuro saw why Yūra had lost his composure so quick. There was a small string of sand detectable from the wall towards Yūra's back, which seemed to end between his kneeling knees. Knowing His Lord, he had Yūra in a tight grasp somewhere quite unpleasant.

"My Lord, surely you understand how there was nothing I could have done agai- against t-this illn…" Yūra tried to suppress a growl as the muscles of his face were drawn together of pain. He was able to remain on his knee and only shrunk together a bit.

Gaara's callous expression remained unchanged, if anything his eyes seemed to smoulder more as Yūra seemed to be in more and more pain.

"Nothing you could have done… Yūra?" Gaara raised his left hand slightly and turned it. Simultaneous with Gaara's movement Kankuro saw more sand wrap around Yūra's limbs and disappear in Yūra's clothing. He was pretty certain that Yūra wouldn't walk away from this encounter unharmed.

"How funny you should say that." Gaara's tone suggested it was anything but. Yūra started to sweat. "I've been informed that you did almost everything in your power to prevent medical help to reach the slaves."

Kankuro saw a tiny string of sand enter Yūra's nose.

"You did it so clever, so unperceived, Yūra. If I didn't had someone keeping an eye on you already, it probably would have gone unnoticed altogether."

Yūra's right hand had turned blue and started to spasm, all Yūra did, was making a gurgling sound. Kankuro watched the scene play out in submissive silence; he was used to see these kinds of things.

"You see Yūra, a little bird told me you and my dear uncle have been keeping in touch." This got a reaction from both Yūra and Kankuro. Yūra's eyes widened and it seemed he tried to get up. Instead a spasm went through his body and with a loud snap, his right hand got forced in an unnatural angle. A deep gurgle came from his throat. Soon enough he coughed up blood and for a second Kankuro thought he was going to choke on it.

Gaara however, had other plans. The sand removed itself from Yūra's body, leaving him with a strangely angled hand. The sand coming from his mouth took bits of body tissue with it. From experience Kankuro knew Yūra had lost his vocal cords. All Yūra did was fall over and cough up blood. Every now and then he moaned pathetically.

For the first time there was an expression noticeable on Gaara's face beside complete dispassion. Shadows of psychopathic delight and gratification graced his face. "Yūra..." Gaara's voice was soft, his tongue briefly flicked his lip as tasting the name, "...We are going to get to know each other very well this night." After he rang the bell, Gaara stepped closer to Yūra en looked down at him while he was struggling to get up. Two guards entered.

"Bring captain Yūra to the dungeon and prepare the Jinchūriki for use. I will keep him company before long." With an ease caused by practice, one of the guards pulled a red bag over Yūra's head while the other guard tied Yūra's hands ignoring the broken bones. Yūra twisted his upper body in a desperate attempt to get away, the protests he tried to make, came out as animalistic cries without his vocal cords. Gaara only watched with a psychotic smile on his face, anticipation shimmering in his eyes. He's looking forwards to the hours he'll spend bringing Yūra to a slow and heinous death.

The last echoes of Yūra's screams were still audible when the servants closed the doors and Gaara turned to Kankuro. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds before Gaara spoke.

"Lord Nori will be given the opportunity to present potential candidates for the just released position of captain. I want you to evaluate the candidates and choose a suitable one, preferable one that does not conspire with my uncle."

Kankuro nodded as acceptance of the order. Gaara walked to the back of the room to look at a map of the country of Earth. He studied the positions of the army's of the Land of Earth and the supposed positions of the Land of Fire for a while.

Suddenly Gaara broke the silence. "Uncle Yashamaru is getting bolder. I suspect he will be requesting my return to Suna any time now. Probably under the guise of learning the political and economical aspect of ruling or something transparent as that." Gaara snorted, which was out of character for him and put Kankuro slightly on edge.

Gaara moved some pieces back and forth. "Shukaku will be leading then..." He let his voice trail and then turned his head to look at Kankuro sharply. "I imagine you rather not stay to serve our sweet brother?"

Kankuro made sure to keep looking in Gaara's eyes. "I would prefer to go with you to Sunagakure My Lord." It was no secret that Kankuro and his sister did not get along with Shukaku. Since the both of them weren't full blooded immortals, Shukaku had seen no reason to treat them with any respect or decency what so ever. Kankuro carefully cleared his throat, making sure the next thing didn't come out as criticism. "Are you sure you will be called back to Sunagakure My Lord? That would be a grave risk for Lord Yashamaru to take, seen Lord Shukaku's preferred choice of battle tactics."

This was Kankuro's diplomatic way of saying that Shukaku was a complete psychopath with the impulse control of a bloodthirsty toddler.

"It would be the most logic step for Yashamaru to take if he wants to keep control over the country," Gaara responded, "Shukaku may act as a loose cannon by times, but he knows the art of war and will be easier to manipulate and control."

Kankuro thought this over. Gaara was quite popular with the soldiers, more popular than Yashamaru, which could become dangerous for Yashamaru. "Besides Kankuro," Gaara interrupted his thoughts, "it's only a matter of time before the Land of Earth is in our complete control. The most important battles have been fought and even Shukaku can wrap up the rest and prepare for the next show. Both the Uchiha's and we ourselves will need some time to prepare for a full confrontation between our countries. My uncle has realized this as well and is just making his next move."

Gaara almost hissed the last part and Kankuro suspected Gaara wasn't getting angry as much about getting recalled to Suna, as it was about losing this mystery woman to Yashamaru. Although, if he had to be objective, the woman probably was more lucky dying than ending up as Gaara's possession. That didn't change that her death was a big loss for Gaara.

Gaara clenched his hand and suddenly smacked the table hard out of frustration. The pawns representing legions shook and toppled over. "Curse my uncle!" Gaara snarled. "He will pay for this…"

... ...

Hinata twisted and turned in her bed. She felt herself slipping away, her own twisted thoughts and painful memories started to take over again. She closed her eyes and all she saw was fire. A sob escaped her as she realized what terrible nightmare this was and another when she realized that this probably was the last time she would be conscious enough to even understand that she was alive.

Suddenly she felt something stir inside her, at first she didn't realize what it was, but then she recognized it as fear. Fear, she was afraid to die.

Tears collected behind her eyelids. Fear and anger, she was angry as well. It washed over her, she became overtaken by it. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. This was the last time she was even a resemblance of the person she used to be.

A moan filled her throat with the painful thought this was the last time she saw sunlight.

In her mind the destructive fire started to surround her and licked the rotting body's spread around her. Hinata desperately tried to breathe, fighting this feverish death while knowing it was a lost fight.

The last time she saw this boring, white painted ceiling.

She heard people screaming between the deafening sounds of the fire.

The last time she would've had any chance to get up and walk back home to Konoha.

Nothing came out of her throat as she tried to scream in agony, but she didn't know it was because of the smoke or the pain.

The last time she could have seen Naruto-kun had he been there.

Shaking her head in desperation, she couldn't even feel the tears slide across her cheeks.

Naruto-kun, her only real friend in the whole world. She couldn't feel her lips move trying to pronounce his name a last time. Naruto-kun, who always knew how to make her laugh. She couldn't feel someone grabbing her hand, someone that wasn't burning. Naruto, who had softly kissed her in the meadow. She felt the small spike of feverish energy drain entirely out of her body and she had no choice then to give up her last small struggle.

Naruto…


End file.
